Update: Council of State approves DMV move to Rocky Mount

News & Observerreports the Council of State approved a 15-year lease on a new Division of Motor Vehicles headquarters in Rocky Mount. The council, made up of Gov. Roy Cooper and nine other statewide elected officials, “approved the lease without discussion or dissent,” according to the N&O.

Reaction was, shall we say, mixed:

The head of the State Employees Association of North Carolina said the decision to move forward with the lease showed “disrespect and disregard” for the concerns of workers by both the Council of State and the state Department of Transportation.

“They have turned the lives of some 400 employees completely upside down,” Broome said in an interview after the vote. “It is profoundly disappointing.”

…David Farris, president and CEO of the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce, said DMV would be a big help to a struggling part of North Carolina.

“It’s a great opportunity for our state government to help lift up the eastern part of the state,” Farris said. “And in the process the taxpayers are the real winners.”

The DMV must vacate its office on New Bern Avenue by the fall of 2020. In the meantime, DMV employees have some hard decisions to make. For what it’s worth, I once had a 30-minute commute; Monday through Thursday I actually enjoyed the time to cool down before arriving home. Fridays were a different story—– how I wished I could snap my fingers and be home in five minutes.